#bergen_county

"S'funny!"

"....It is."

He finds a few pebbles, pitches them in the water. "Think there are any more like that crab in there?"

"Probably!"

"Lots of monsters to slay."

He grins and chucks another one. "Don't have my stick though."

"Well, not at the moment. But maybe you'll learn magic?"

A shrug with grimace. "I can't even figure out how this glamour thing works."

"Well, practice?"

"You mean with weapons?"

"And glamour? I am not good at magic, but, well... there's Frank?"

A face, but he tries to hide it.

"Yeah, I guess."

"I told you, Frank is not just that funny feeling... that's the house thing."

"Yeah, but....."

"But?"

"Well, it's hard to trust him, right? Anyway, he doesn't like me."

"Well, he didn't like me either. Liam don't like unseelie, and I was unseelie."

"Olgar is still unseelie."

"I'm not either."

"No. But I mean, he's slow to warm up. Doesn't mean he dislikes you, per se, or won't ever like you."

"He'd do right by you. And he'd certainly do everything to protect you from harm - like has nuthin' to do with that."

Adam gives her a look. "The Chief and him are married, right?"

"Yup!"

"And -she- doesn't like me either. So he's not going to." Wisely.

"She doesn't dislike you, or you wouldn't be helping with Pennons."

"I mean, just because you aren't the favorite doesn't mean you're disliked. She's waiting to figure you out, and she's not sure if you're safe."

An eyeroll he'd never let the Chief see. "Yeah."

"Bet everybody thought I disliked them when I first chrysalized, but they didn't just count me a lost cause."

A scowl. "Yes. I mean it. But you aren't giving them much of a chance, either."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well, see, you've decided 'they don't like me,' so you approach every interaction with that first in your head. And then you start reading everything as proof of that."

"But Sam, I don't -have- interactions with them." He points out.

"Not enough. And you're avoiding them, so how can they change their minds?"

"I mean, you just gotta let them get to know you so they see you?"

He blinks at her. "Sam, seriously? I'm not allowed -near- them, or the Lodge, unless someone brings me there! I'm not avoiding them, I'm..... banished."

Snort.

"You aren't banished."

"You have rules, and you went from being there by Chief's invite only, to going there with me, or Zane, or whoever."

"I mean, I bet Zane'd be happy to grab you if you asked."

Snort. "I bet he would...." with a grin.

"And yeah, ok, not banished. Still not really welcome. And see, that's my point. If the Chief wanted to get to know me, she'd have me come over. She doesn't." QED.

Footsteps

"The Chief is a grown-up. You're a kid."

"She calls the shots. I get it."

Olgar can be seen closing in. He's not heading TOWARDS them per se, but the blight faced grump is there none the less.

"But I mean, I'm not the Chief's friend."

"She's the Chief, I'm a kid."

"Sam, I -get- it." A careless shrug. "She's in charge. She wants to see me, she calls, I jump."

"mmm ? "Olgar glances over at the noise "Everything okay over there?"